Economic growth suggests slower rise

While the NOAA data show the frequency of billion-dollar disasters has soared, adjusting the numbers for economic growth makes the rise seem much more gradual. A disaster that inflicted $1 billion of damage in 1980 would cause $2.3 billion in 2010. For example, the adjusted data suggest in 2010 only three disasters equivalent to a billion-dollar storm in 1980 occurred, compared with five before the adjustment.